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Chasing Leprechauns in Ireland. Carla Willard. The Traveler. Carla Willard Sophomore Linguistics major Returning college student Focused on Irish language and myth. Literary Studies in Dublin and West Ireland (Summer 2014). Overview. Tuatha dé Danaan Hill of Tara Newgrange.
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Chasing Leprechauns in Ireland Carla Willard
The Traveler • Carla Willard • Sophomore Linguistics major • Returning college student • Focused on Irish language and myth
Overview • Tuatha dé Danaan • Hill of Tara • Newgrange
Mythological Sites • Hill of Tara • Newgrange
Who were the Tuatha dé Danaan? • Irish gods? • Powerful fairies? • Tolkien-style elves? • Six thousand year old myth
The Myth Says • Tuatha ruled Ireland • Humans invaded • Iron weapons beat magic
The Myth Says • Tuatha hid underground • Shrank and deformed • Became leprechauns • …still afraid of iron
Lebor Gabála Erenn • 11th Century A.D. text • Pseudo-history of Ireland? • Irish Celts from Spain?
Lebor Gabála Erenn • Linguistic evidence? • Connection between Irish and Iberian Celts • Were the Tuatha real people?
Hill of Tara • Capital city of the Tuatha dé Danaan • Royal seat of Irish high king • Mainly symbolic
Newgrange (Brú na Bóinne) • Neolithic passage tomb • 3200 B.C. (older than Stonehenge) • Winter solstice • Home of the Tuatha chief Dagda
Study Abroad • Makes history and myth come alive • Renewed my passion for Irish • Deeper learning experience than reading books about a country
Summary • Irish mythology and the Tuatha dé Danaan • Historical sites, home of the myth • Study abroad: a positive experience
I would like to thank: Profs. Salah Hassan and Sheila Contreras MSU English Department MSU Financial Aid Department